The Newton Vase by Ashlee Harding from uk
designer's own words:
After searching anticipation I began to think back to being a child and watching cartoons and how they over exaggerate and anticipate things before they happen. With the examples of goofy and Wile Coyote I decided to portray this through the dropping of an fragile object. After my initial ideas I decided that the anticipation of dropping the object was important, but only as a starting point. In order to come up with a truly innovative design that would clearly show anticipation, I would have to think about the natural things that would go inside the vase. The water and the plant. I came up with the idea that the position of the vase would indicate how much water was left in the vase or if the plant needs water. The way that it works is basically the exchanging of weight distribution. The vase is first upright then water is added which makes the vase tilt when it is filled. Then when the water is absorbed the vase stands upright, anticipating that the plant needs more water or may soon.
The name of the product I have came up with is ‘The Newton Vase’. The reason for this being because the product uses gravity in order to anticipate the flowers needing water. Anticipating the drop, anticipates life. If the product would actually be made it would be formed in the classic way of making a vase from clay using hands and a potter's wheel and then fired to make solid. The centre of gravity would be really important and so would the weight of the product in order for the product to actually anticipate when it is empty or full. It would come in all ranges of colours, but I believe the most effective colours would be natural and earthy such as solid white, creme, clay and grey.
Initial research and ideas
Concept explained
Product in action 1
Product in action 2
Final product concept